RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
Towards a Unified Group Scaffolding Framework: Insights From MGTAs
Page: 955
Supporting students’ collaborative work requires more than simply placing them in groups; instructors must actively shape participation and discourse through scaffolding. Group scaffolding refers to the set of instructional strategies that help students coordinate, distribute responsibility, and build shared understanding in groups. Despite its relevance for undergraduate active learning environments, existing theories have tended to isolate central elements, including teacher guidance of student reasoning, discourse moves shaping participation, and classroom norms structuring collaboration. In this paper, we analyze episodes of instruction by mathematics graduate teaching assistants (MGTAs) to motivate a unified theory of group scaffolding. Our framework integrates four interdependent dimensions: (a) norms setting, (b) task and material design, (c) discourse moves, and (d) access distribution. We argue that this theory both advances research on collaborative learning in undergraduate mathematics and informs professional development efforts that prepare instructors to foster more equitable and effective group work.